Takeaways from Kentucky racing past Florida, USC still unserious defensively, Texas A&M front-seven living up to promise
Kentucky makes statement with rout over Florida
Apparently, Kentucky was playing opossum for the first month of the season.
After somewhat slogging their way to a 4-0 start, the Wildcats emphatically waxed Florida 33-14, with Mark Stoops becoming the first UK coach since Bear Bryant in 1951 to win three straight games against the Gators.
Vandy transfer tailback Ray Davis ran wild on UF, going for 141 yards and two touchdowns on seven carries in the first quarter — more than Austin Armstrong’s unit had allowed in a single game all season.
With Kentucky’s Big Blue Wall suddenly resembling the John Schlarman offensive lines from several years ago, Davis finished with 280 yards and four total touchdowns. The senior became just the fifth player to rush for more than 200 yards against Florida since 2000, joining likes of college football stars Marcus Lattimore and Willis McGahee.
Kentucky won a game by nearly three touchdowns with quarterback Devin Leary throwing for just 69 yards at 3.5 an attempt. The ‘Cats were again plagued by wide receiver drops.
Still, UK cemented itself as the biggest challenger to Georgia in the SEC East, and the Wildcats will get to make their case in Athens next weekend.
On the flip side, Florida continues to look dreadful away from The Swamp under Billy Napier.
The Gators are now 0-2 on the road in 2023, and 1-7 in the last two seasons under Napier. They’re 1-13 away from Gainesville since losing at Kentucky in 2021.
While Napier’s play-calling continues to come into question, Florida’s run defense entered Saturday ranked in the Top 10 in success rate and was allowing just 2.8 yards per play. Yet on their fits were terrible and tackling was an issue, too.
The Gators also continue to self-destruct on special teams. Despite Napier defending his “GameChanger Coordinator” earlier in the week, Florida committed another costly penalty that changed the game against them.
Trailing 10-0 late in the first quarter, Florida got a 3-and-out only to commit a leaping penalty on the punt to give UK a fresh set of downs. On the very next play, Davis raced 75 yards untouched for a touchdown.
It’s going to be a long week of questions for Napier this week.
Caleb Williams is a cheat code but USC’s defense remains unserious
USC quarterback Caleb Williams is the most majestic player in college football, but even his otherworldly talents may not be able to mask a Trojans defense that continues to prove itself unserious.
Behind Williams’ six touchdowns and 403 yards passing, USC outlasted Colorado 48-41. The Trojans jumped out to a 34-14 lead only to stall a bit offensively in the second half and watch Shedeur Sanders and the Buffs catch fire against USC’s Swiss cheese secondary. The Trojans had to recover an onside kick inside the final minute to run out the clock.
The game should’ve been a laugher, but Alex Grinch’s unit couldn’t get a stop. The Trojans allowed 9 of 18 conversions on third down. They couldn’t cover a hitch and tackling remains optimal. USC allowed 14 plays over 10 yards. While Colorado hasn’t been able to run the ball all season, it rolled up 193 yards against USC.
The Trojans moved to 5-0, but their performance did nothing to inspire confidence that USC can slowdown the likes of Washington and Oregon later in the season.
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Meanwhile, Deion Sanders may ultimately have some regrets with some of his game management decisions, as Colorado appeared to be playing not to get blown out early (similarly to the strategy last season week against Oregon) only to stage a furious rally after halftime.
With upcoming games against Arizona State and Stanford, the Buffs do have a great chance to win a couple games the next two weeks, though.
Texas A&M’s front-7 finally living up to its recruiting billing
The Aggies pasted Arkansas 34-22 in Dallas, moving to 4-1 in 2023. While Max Johnson was solid in his first start replacing the injured Conner Weigman, the story for the second-straight Saturday for Texas A&M was its tenacious front-7.
After harassing a trio of Auburn quarterbacks for seven sacks and 15 tackles for loss last weekend, the Aggies routinely punished KJ Jefferson — finishing with seven sacks again.
They had 15 tackles for loss and held Hogs’ star tailback Rocket Sanders to just 34 yards rushing on 11 carries.
A year ago, 5-star recruits like Walter Nolan, Shemar Turner and Shemar Stewart all struggled with inconsistencies, but outside of a poor game against Miami (mainly in the secondary), DJ Durkin’s unit has been awesome in 2023.
They’re mauling teams in the trenches, stopping the run (a notable improvement from 2022 when the unit ranked last in the SEC) and hounding opposing quarterbacks.
Nolan (1 sacks, 3 TFLs), Turner (2.5 TFLs) and veteran McKinnley Jackson (2 TFLs), another former 5-star recruit, all had big plays against the Hogs, as did linebacker Edgerrin Cooper (2 sacks, 3 TFLs).
As dominant as Texas A&M’s host of former blue-chip recruits are playing up front, this is a unit that could spearhead the Aggies to a major win over Alabama next weekend.